How to do a cycling FTP test with the Zycle trainer?
Zycle is one of the best smart roller brands we have on the market.
This brand has been behind the development of the BKOOL rollers and for a little over a year, after Bkool announced that it would only dedicate itself to the simulator, it has launched the rollers with its own brand.
In other articles we have talked about the various models and analyzed in depth how the Zycle ZPRO, which will surely be useful to you.
In this article we talk about how to do an FTP TEST to know your state of form and to be able to calculate your training rhythms
The FTP is the “Functional Threshold Power”, Translated into Spanish UPF or Threshold of Functional Power.
This type of training refers to the maximum average power that can be developed in an hour on the bike.
Once you have that, you can calculate the various training zones expressed in beats / minute and power zones (Z1-Z6)
FTP was originally created for road cycling, but there is a 20 minute specific version for the roller that can be done with Zycle's ZPRO.
This is the shortened version of the test created by Allen and Coggan (2010) where they created an ideal 20-minute adaptation to do on the roller.
Having controlled conditions outside (weather, traffic, unforeseen events, etc.) and getting the maximum effort is very difficult, that's why this option is the one we recommend.
Also, it is necessary to have a power meter on the bike.
The Zycle trainer is designed to work 100% on the Bkool virtual platform and a good way to start training is to do the FTP test that comes by default
En BKOOL Cycling you can choose a UPF test of 5 minutes and another of 20 minutes, but we recommend the 20.
If you don't have a virtual simulator, you can take the test as follows
Once we have the results of the 20 minute test you will have to apply a correction coefficient 0,95 to the watts obtained.
E.g.
If we obtain an average of 300 Watts, you will have to do the following based on this formula
(Test result) x 0.95 = Maximum average power
300 watts x 0,95 = 285 watts which will be the maximum average power that you can maintain during an hour of effort.
From this data you can calculate your training zones following the power zones proposed by Coggan:
These are the areas that you can obtain the following table
| Neighborhood | % UPF or FTP | Description | EPR |
| Z1 | <55% of your UPF | Helps recovery. | <2 |
| Z2 | 56% - 75% of your UPF | Improve your stamina. | 2-3 |
| Z3 | 76% - 90% of your UPF | Improve your aerobic performance. | 4-5 |
| Z4 | 91% -105% of your UPF | Increase your maximum performance capacity. | 6-7 |
| Z5 | 106% -120% of your UPF | Help improve your speed. | 7-8 |
| Z6 | 121% -150% of your UPF | Increase your anaerobic capacity. | >8 |
And with all this you can start training with Watts
To do this test we have used the Zycle smart roller ZPRO, one of the best sellers on the market, due to its validity, reliability and quality to train Indoor together with applications such as Bkool, Zwift, etc.
Doing a quality training at such a high intensity on a roller depends on several factors. After we have done it, these are our feelings:
Stability:
The roller has performed perfectly to the effort of this type of training, being stable. without movements and with very good sensations
Shooting sensations:
Being fixed and stable, we have been able to dedicate 100% of the session to trying to maintain the continuous effort.
Data reliability:
The data offered through the Zycle and Bkool potentiometers are reliable to be able to establish a control of the performance and the training zones
